March 7, 2007 - Media Molecule has some creative folk. Made up of ex-Lionhead employees, the team is best known for the weirdo Steam downloadable, Rag Doll Kung Fu (which was made up of martial arts battles that played out in semi-2D with marionettes). But before Rag Doll Kung Fu even existed, the guys at MM were key members on other high-profile projects like Burnout 3, Impossible Creatures, Magic Carpet, Syndicate and several more. Not a light resume.

It's the team's first major project for a console, however, that could really put them on the map. Developed exclusively for the PlayStation 3, LittleBigPlanet is the epitome of imagination. Even in the presence of Home, Sony's impressive new community software, LittleBigPlanet stole the show at Phil Harrison's "Game 3.0" practice conference, and was the thing that everyone was talking about.

That sort of buzz may come as a surprise given LittleBig's somewhat adorable appearance, but it's not the cutesy art style that sets it apart (though the game is beautiful. It looks like a Pixar project and the animation is great). No, what makes LittleBigPlanet unique is the idea that players control what kind of experience they have; they're given a blank canvas and can then design whatever sort of platformer they want.

It all begins in an open area where the player, a little burlap guy named "Sackman," has total power over his world. To use that influence, players just need to open a "thought bubble" filled with various (and unnamed) icons that can then be used to create new assets. The concept here is that everything the player controls is made up of different materials such as organics, wood, metal, rubber and other substances, and that each matter type has its own adherence to the law of physics.

Following the laws of physics means that if Sackman tries to push an orange across a flat surface, its weight and texture affects how easy or difficult the task may be. However, users can modify objects in their world at the push of a button and super-size the orange so that it can no longer be pushed by a single Sackman. Instead, two or three other players may have to join the original hero just so they can move it. Keep in mind, any object in LittleBigWorld's universe can be sized, resized, or stamped with customizable stickers or additional objects at any time.

Another cool aspect to this design is that you don't have to just push the orange to continue side-scrolling along in the level. Players can try to solve obstruction puzzles in any way they see fit -- by using jet packs to fly over things; use their momentum during a running start to create more force, etc, etc. What's more is that Sackman is pretty versatile and in addition to running, jumping, pushing, and pulling, he can also make emotional gestures with the Sixaxis and even strike out at fellow Sackmen if he has an attitude problem.

As you can tell, the possibilities for a game like this are extremely high and watching the Media Molecule crew adding new things to their level as they went along (including new costumes to multiplayer buddies without the need of any off-site editors) was fascinating to watch, The team even revealed that users can find and discover new parts to build more intricate levels as they go along and that users will be able to share stages with other players globally via a worldwide distribution system that's sortable by ratings and popularity, offers user comments for each map, and plenty more.

In other words, it looks pretty damned hot. Look for a fully-featured sample version of LittleBigPlanet to appear on the PlayStation Store this fall, with the final game to appear on Blu-ray (and the PS Store) in early '08.